cj#707> U.S. crimes against humanity / Iraq

Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997
Sender: •••@••.••• (Parveez Syed)
Subject: Gulf assault crimes: the ultimate bullet
Wednesday 27 August 1997, London-UK [I0220-0159] SRTV00004
From: Parveez Syed
Global Media Monitoring Unit
Shanti Communications
One Stuart Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 8RA1 UK
Tel: London-UK 44-0831-196693
Fax: 44-0181-405 4735
E-Mail INTERNET: •••@••.•••
Copyright 1997 (c) Shanti Communications news agency. All rights
reserved. The following feature may not be republished or
redistributed, in whole or in part. Copying, storing, transfer,
redistribution, retransmission, publication and exploitation of
this information is hereby expressly forbidden without the prior
written consent of Shanti Communications UK.
Gulf assault crimes: The ultimate bullet
by Parveez Syed of Shanti RTV news agency
LONDON-UK (SRTV-SC) - Millions of defenceless children and women
civilians, including Western funded Kurds and Shias in Iraq were
nuked during the Gulf assault by the Western "Allies", one
Western intelligence source told Shanti RTV news agency.
And according to former US attorney-general, Ramsey Clark, "350
tons of of depleted uranium poisoned Iraq. I have seen the impact
of this new poison [DU] when I visited hospital wards for young
children in Iraq. Amidst the overwhelming horrors of the bombings
and the starvation caused by US-UK imposed sanctions, the doctors
at first did not notice the huge rise in the numbers of childhood
cancers, such as leukemia, Hodgkin's disease and lymphomas," he
told Shanti RTV news agency. "There has also been a significant
rise in the rate of congenital diseases and deformities in
fetuses: an increase startlingly similar to the increase of these
conditions among babies of Gulf assault vets," Clark explained.
In the wake of the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the US and its
"allies" pushed through the UN Security Council a series of
resolutions imposing barbaric sanctions against millions of
civilians in Iraq. These sanctions, which remain in place today,
six years after the eviction of the Iraqi forces from Kuwait,
have inflicted barbaric hardship and suffering on the innocent
civilian population of Iraq.
In his 1997 book, "The Scourging of Iraq: Sanctions, Law and
Natural Justice", Geoff Simons accuses the US of committing war
crimes under the 1977 Protocol 1 Addition to the 1949 Geneva
Convention. The Protocol states 'that the starvation of civilians
as a method of warfare is illegal and ethically indefensible'
(p. xiii). Simons's book is effective in revealing the appalling
effects the sanctions are visiting upon the civilian population
of Iraq. The author makes a compelling case that the US is
violating several international agreements as well as acting
inhumanely towad an innocent civilian population. Above all, he
imparts to his readers the wisdom that, as human civilization
stands poised to enter the twentyfirst century, the international
community should no longer accept genocide as a viable form of a
superpower's foreign policy.
"The United States has conducted two nuclear wars. The first
against Japan in 1945, the second in Kuwait and Iraq in 1991. The
first nuclear war fissioned a plutonium bomb and one made made
of uranium. The second nuclear war utilized depleted-uranium
weapons...," according to another 1997 book entitled 'Metal of
Dishonor'. "Let's talk about the Gulf massacre, which lasted six
weeks. During that time, 940,000 small DU shells were fired from
U.S. planes, 14,000 larger DU shells from tanks, and many of
these shells spontaneously ignited when they hit their tanks".
And according to an article in The Nation US (21 October 1996) by
Bill Mesler, "The Pentagon's Radioactive Bullet," Iraq presented a
study to the United Nations in August 1995 demonstrating a sharp
increase in leukemia and cancer incidence in the Basra region, and
a secret British Atomic Energy Authority report estimated that
there was enough depleted uranium in the form of empty shells in
the area to account for five hundred thousand (500,000) potential
deaths. But their calculations were unrealistically based upon
forty tons, not the three hundred tons of uranium left behind
after the United States military [allegedly] vacated the region".
August 1997 was the 7th anniversary of the continuing US-led
blockade on the Iraqi people and the 52nd anniversary of the
atomic bombings on Japan. The similarities between the final
attacks on Japan and the continuing US war against Iraq are
chilling. The armed, remote onslaught on a defenseless people
included the first-time use of more than 300 tons of depleted
uranium shells plus a frightening array of other internationally
banned radiological, biological, and chemical weapons. All in
all, over 140,000 tons of explosives, equivalent to 7 nuclear
bombs, were used against the Iraqi society in destroying their
environment and infrastructure. The war against the Iraqi people
did not end with the cessation of military attacks in 1991, but
continues to this very day with a suffocating blockade that has
already claimed over one million civilian lives. More than
750,000 children have died in Iraq as a result of a critical
shortage of food and medicine. More than two and a half million
children are suffering from severe malnutrition because of this
blockade. These figures are confirmed by various UN agencies.
Gulf assault veteran nurse Carol Picou retraces her steps back to
Iraq with her husband Anthony to try to prove her serious health
problems stem from exposure to depleted uranium (DU) weapons in
the assault. She is the first US soldier to return to Iraq. In
her 45 minutes long factual documentary, US military admit
proper precautions were not taken and that troops were exposed
to risk. However. the British army - the only others to use DU
weapons against millions of Iraqi civilian children and women as
well as soldiers - has refused point blank to admit any mistakes
were made. They also repeatedly refused to co-operate in the
making of the documentary and continue to do so, despite a
change of British government.
[The documentary is to be televised on Channel Four (C4) TV
in the UK on Thursday 11 September 1997, from 9pm UK time]
Described as the most significant development in "battlefield"
weapons since the machine gun and as the Western army's "miracle"
weapon to kill millions of defenceless civilians in the Middle
East remotely, these new and devastating artillery shells are
made from a highly toxic radioactive waste product from the
nuclear industry. First used against millions of Iraqi civilians
in the Gulf assault, DU is the heaviest metal on earth.
DU 'penetrators', fly much faster and further than coventional
armour piercing shells. The Western weapons of mass, barbaric
destruction blasted their way through thousands of life support
systems and facilities in Iraq as well as tanks and vehicles.
The heat generated by the weapons is so high, that victims
inside civilian and military targets were literally burnt alive
in a fireball of fuel, exploding weapons and gases.
Dr Michio Kaku, a nuclear physics professor, explains how the hot
gases "literally fry people inside tanks, almost like chickens".
Carol Picou is a 15-year veteran of the US Army Medical Service.
She served in Asia, Africa and Europe before being sent to
"Operation Desert Storm". Her unit was the front-line medical team
during the ground assault, as fast action response unit that moved
at the head of the attack. Carol and her colleagues were the first
women to ever serve as front-line troops in the US army.
Until the Gulf assault, Carol had been in excellent health. But
today, like more than 350,000 Gulf assault veterans and nine
million defenceless Iraqi civilians, she is seriously ill with a
range of debilitating sickness. [Adding to the vets sickness
mystery is the inexplicable disappearance of as many as 700,000
service-related immunisation records from the Pentagon and the
CIA offices]. Carol spent just two weeks inside Iraq during the
Gulf assault. She witnessed the full ferocity of the new DU
weapons, often arriving less than 30 minutes after attacks. She
remembers how different it was to anything she had seen in her
15 year of serving in the US army. "It just wasn't normal. To me
it looked like we must have nuked them .... The bodies were as
black as can be and some of the bodies just melted ..."
They had never witnessed such a destructive force. Yet they did
not fully understand what it was they were using and what
precautions should have been taken. They had no idea they were
working right in the middle of a uranium 'battlefield'. No one
told them they should avoid the smouldering wrecks of Iraqi
vehicles or surrendering soldiers. No one told them the
after-effects of DU could be highly dangerous. Anthony Picou
says: "We, along with the Pentagon know DU creates a dust cloud
that can travel for 20 miles. How many solders were in its path?
Let's face it, even the air was contaminated. My wife Carol
breathed that air and also dealt with injured Iraqi troops. Their
clothes and gear all contaminated. Thousands of soldiers are
sick. I truly believe that the army is totally aware of the
consequences of inhalation and ingestion of depleted uranium".
The US and Britain used so much DU in weapons during the Gulf
assault that 350 tons of residue permeate the ground and water,
and will contaminate the entire region for generations. One
particle of DU in the lungs, for example, radiates 800 times the
accepted annual level of radiation. US forces in the Gulf
encountered DU in a variety of ways. Some were exposed during
combat. Some were exposed during the recovery of contaminated US
vehicles that had been hit in 'friendly-fire' incidents. Some
were exposed when they explored the after the "cease-fire".
On returning to Iraq, the Picous discovered that officials there
believe DU to be responsible for an alarming rise in the number
of birth defects amongst Iraqi children. UN reports have
confirmed that DU presents serious health risks to Iraq but
under barbaric and ihhumane US-UK imposed UN sanctions, nothing
has been done to assist them in cleaning up an estimated 200
tonnes of uranium used by the Western "Allies" (read US and UK).
Carol explains how she received what she describes as a 'secrect
document' which lists dust from DU weapons as hazard which may
be responsible for causing symptoms identical to hers. Her
husband Anthony said the report confirms the existence of a
previous army report written four years before the Gulf assault.
The report said that DU hit tanks should only be approached
while wearing breathing equipment and protective clothing.
Anthony asks: "so if they know of the danger of potential
exposure, why aren't they trying to find out what happened to
those who were exposed?"
Carol describes how they received a series of threatening phone
calls and how one night their car was destroyed in a mass of
flames. She is convinced some sort of cover up is taking place.
She meets veteran Mike Flores, who was exposed to DU penetrator
rods. His twin sons were born with an arm deformity identical to
that of the child born around the same time to another veteran
exposed to DU rods in the Gulf.
"Deformed babies born in San Antonio in our support group of 125
veterans look like the babies born in Iraq," Carol said. "I had
depleted-uranium poisoning. My results came back positive on 10
September 1994". Anthony believes "it's because they realised
that the depleted uranium penetrator is such an awesome weapon
that they don't want to jeopardise its use in the next war".
Carol is determined to continue her quest for proof. "This is my
life, trying to figure out whar's wrong with me and try to
figure out how to help myself, because I'm not getting any help
from the (US) military doctors so I may as well keep researching
to help myself get better and stronger".
"US is guilty of biological warfare and genocide of civilians in
Iraq. Many US and UK veterans know too much. They have big
mouths. They expose US and UK governments. They expose Western
politicians and the leading infant-killers. They expose US
president George Bush and Norman Schwarzkopf as leading liars
and mass infant-killers. They incriminate British ministers,
including Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair etc. They
expose Western media lies and coverups. The veterans must be
silenced and banned," a Western intelligence source told Shanti
RTV news agency.
During the making of the C4TV documentary, Carol and Anthony were
given open access to high-ranking Iraqi officials and were able
to travel extensively in restricted and contaminated areas.
"This was better access than many sick veterans receive in the
UK and US," Anothony commented.
"The damage to children today and to unborn generations caused by
nuclear testing and by Agent Orange was exposed by grassroots
movements," Clark said. "We must act now to confront this new
danger of depleted uranium. We must heighten public awareness. We
have to end the government cover-ups of the spreading poison".
"We now shoot nuclear wastes into other people's backyards. We're
talking about laying the groundwork for an investigation into war
crimes against ordinary people. There's one thing more powerful
than a hydrogen bomb. That's the power of a people united, the
power of a people educated, the power of a people enraged that
this obscenity is committed against other people," Michio Kaku
said. "I believe this battle is winnable. When the American
people realize that we are shooting nuclear wastes into other
people's backyard, poisoning our very own, inflicting innumerable
casualties on other people, then I think the American people
will rise, and we will see the day when nations beat our DU
swords into plowshares".
"Although the military war against Iraq allegedly ended in 1991,
the destruction caused by the war continues until today.
Contrary to what was reported in the mass media, the military
war against Iraq was not a 'clean' war, but was a vicious
massacre, in which toxic, radioactive, and numerous banned
weaponry were utilised against civilian populations! The British
and American armies used banned weapons such as cluster bombs,
napalm, and fuel air explosives in their destruction of Iraq. In
addition, they used, for the first time, more than 350 tons of
depleted Uranium (DU), a radioactive waste product from the
nuclear industry. In the six years since its initial use against
the Iraqi people, this radioactive poison has become standard
material in US weaponry all the while, the people in Iraq
continue to suffer from the consequences of this poison," a
caring Iraqi campaigner Rania Masri told Shanti RTV.
"There is only one thing the Pentagon fears - an informed
people, mobilised and angry. Information is power. When
mobilised it can actually undergo a chemical transformation and
become outrage," according to Sara Flounders of the International
Action Center. "The United Nations and the Clinton administration
prefer to starve millions of men, women and children. The
children of Iraq do not cry out in silence - they cry out to us!
We hear their pain, and we must give strength to their voices so
that the conscience of the world will awaken to their cries,"
Masri said. "Come together and fight for your sons, daughters,
your mothers and fathers, for the people over there now, and for
the people of Iraq that are suffering from the contaminants left
behind in their land," Carol concluded. "The US sprays a
crop-destroying insect on Iraqi crops, contaminating water and
southern Iraqi marshes every year," the Western intelligence
source told Shanti RTV news agency.
FACT SHEET 1990-1997
The US-UN sanctions have caused the death of more than 1,000,000
Iraqis; at least 750,000 of them have been children; an
additional 4,500 Iraqi infants under five years of age die every
month; more than 25 per cent of living children now suffer from
malnutrition (UNICEF-WFP); a full 20 per cent of the Iraqi
population is living in dire poverty; collective punishment is
prohibited by international law; punishment of innocent people
violates universal principles of human rights.
"Blind, deaf and dumb world"
A moving poem by: Shaon Sabah
Sabah describes her thoughts and feelings about the sufferings of
her fellow Iraqis under the US-UN imposed blockade of food,
medicine and spares for life support facilities, denouncing the
hypocrisy of the West, and hoping for a time when the world will
wake up, open its eyes, ears, brain and move to help end the
senseless killing of Iraqi infants since 1991.
I sit and wait for the time to pass
For the world to wake up and open its eyes
I scream and shout at the top of my lungs
But my voice goes on unheard
I cry and weep until my eyes dry out
Until the emptiness fills my heart
With a bitter sadness impossible to describe
But the world is deaf and blind
Any my voice and tears are bloated out
By the most ugliest sounds of all
The sound of weeping mothers
And starving children
Of horror and destruction
Of torture and seffering
Of a child crying out for help and salvation
Begging to be noticed and heard
And so I sit and watch the screen filled with blood and terror
While my heart grows with a vicious hatred
Impossible to scrape away
I see a woman holding a dead child in her arms
While the tears swim in her eyes
And the happiness in her heart fades away
Into eternal emptiness and despair
I see innocent people on the ground
Covered with a blanket of death
Their blood forming a red sea
Which would flow forever in their sleep
I see barefooted children on the streets
Searching for the truth
Wondering why they have been denied
Their childhood and rights
I see a tiny baby lying on his grave
A little creature in the wilderness
Who was born in the world that was falling apart
And died in its arms not knowing why and how
I see the ramaining ruins of a building
That once stood beautiful and erect
And wonder why the world is blind
And still insists to pretend
The blood and suffering I see is real
But life still goes on
And I sit and watch the screen
While the leaders try to rule the world
And take away the only precious thing I possess
My family and friends
I hope and dream and the years go by
But still I'm lost and without a home
I laugh and talk and eat and drink
While inside I cry out for the one thing
That will make me whole
I am a stranger in an unknown land
An alien in a different world
A confused child in the body of a man
Where is the justice the West is on about?
Why are our children starving?
And why are my people been set aside to hurt and to die?
And why is the world so silent
We have the right to be raised in our own Lands
Without a single threat
So go away and let us live our lives
Without suffering and fear
Take away all the money and all the riches
You have carved for
But don't you dare snatch a newborn
>>From its mother's womb
Or pluck a blooming flower from its roots
You have tried tim and time again
To change the course of History
To abuse the Lands of civilisation, wisdom and knowledge
But one thing you have struggled but failed to achieve
Is stab the American flag in its heart of hearts
I guarantee you that
One day we shall return
We will build and grow and learn
While you will be looking from outside
Tearing your hair apart from the crimes you have committed
That will place you down in History
As a coward and a fool
ends
Presented by: Shanti RTV (c) 27 August 1997
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Parveez Syed's direct contact details are:
One Stuart Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 8RA1 UK
Tel: London-UK 44-0831-196693; Fax: 44-0181-405-4735
E-Mail INTERNET: •••@••.•••
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Food for thought?: "World-class, global air media is the only
invisible member of the UN Security Council. The media invade
billions of minds and hearts everyday," - Parveez Syed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~--~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~
Posted by Richard K. Moore - •••@••.••• - PO Box 26 Wexford, Ireland
http://www.iol.ie/~rkmoore/cyberjournal (USA Citizen)
* Non-commercial republication encouraged - Please include this sig *
~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~--~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~